


Keys to Being a Good Neighbor

by Sildominarin



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 04:18:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8782687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sildominarin/pseuds/Sildominarin
Summary: There is a lot of stress in moving into a new apartment, so it's nice  to have a neighbor to open doors for you.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pamurai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pamurai/gifts).



vThe first sign they had of new neighbors came late on a Monday evening.

  
The tv was on, though it was serving as little more than white noise, Aria Castians was combing her fingers idly through the hair of the elf whose head resided rather happily in her lap. That evening was one of the rare and precious nights when their days off had aligned, and the simplicity of spending an evening reading and watching tv had been like a sirens call. Especially when Kaleigh was dozing, book falling to her chest by inches, and Aria herself free to twist her masses of auburn curls into idle braids as she considered following her wife into sleep.

  
And cahnged her mind, with a jolt, at the string of curses and knocking that came from across the hall.

  
Kal roused as well, grinning even as she stretched and rose. "Spunds like you are needed, door master."

  
And she was probably right, damn it. With a groan of her own the vashoth stood, grabbing her small tool bag and heading for the door. It was a small pain, being a trained locksmith as part of her business-- it meant that people came to her before their frequently absent super. Not that he was worth much -and no one had the heart to tell the landlord, who was sweet and kind and well into her eighties, but still remained in control of the building and charged the same rent for all her tenants regardless of rent- but still, it was her evening off. And a rare night off, when they were both free and content to spend the evening curled against each other.

  
Not her fault that the new neighbors didn't know yet that all the locks stuck the first few time, or that the liklihood that the super had given them the right key the first time was....

  
But that chain of thought trailed off immediately when she opened the door and caught sigth of a massive qunari across the hall. Aria wasn't small by any means, but she had inherited her father's narrower frame and her mothers graceful, backfacing horns. The qunari before her had horns wider than her shoulders, and for the first time since childhood she had to crane her neck back slightly to see his face. Which was probably the reason she didn't notice the human standing next to him until he cleared his throat.

  
"Terribly sorry if we disturbed you." He had a pleasant tone for a man, accented and polite with the cadance that only came with monied education. "Trouble with the door, won't happen again."

  
"Will if I can't the damn door open, kadan."

  
Aria read the flinch, both at the words and- more importantly- at the endearment, and cranked down her grin into a more sympathetic smile.

"Sup probably gave you the old key-- he's bad about it. I can get it for you." She lifted her bag slightly, which had 'Castain Craft and Keys' embroidered on the side, for them to see. "Locks are my jam. Take a look for you, if you want."

  
The qunari turned then, and se was treated to a handsome face marred only- though distinctly- by the eyepatch and what few scars weren't covered by it.

"Ha, nice, what are the odds." He stepped aside to let her kneel by the door.

  
"About what? Having another vashoth as a neighbor, or that I'm a professional pick lock?" Choosing three of her slimmest picks she went to work.

  
"Tal-Vashoth, actually." The words were suddenly stilted, and out f the corner of her eye she watched the man- the mage, if the staff on his back meant anything- reach out to lay a hand on his arm.

  
Oh. Oh, that was...well, her mother was Tal-Vashoth and she wasn't going to run screaming from the hills for it. If he'd chosen a mage, and a Tevinter one if she had his accent right, over the Qun and it's institutionalized brainwashing then good for him. Still made her nervous, like things originating in Par Vollen did, but she could swallow it down. It would take longer to swallow down the nerves for Kaliegh being so close to a 'Vint, which wasn't any more fair, but no one said she was perfect.

  
"Well, there it is." The deadbolt slid back, and she turned the knob to open the door. "Welcome to the building. Name's Aria, just across the hall. My wife is Kaleigh, but she runs a bakery so you probably won't see her much."

  
"Dorian Pavus." The man- Dorian, apparently- reached out to shake her hand. "And The Iron Bull. We're with the Inquisition, so the same may be said of us on occasion. Delighted to make your acquaintance."

  
The Inquisition? She'd heard of the organization that the Chantry had, grudgingly, allowed to come in and clean up its mess, but she hadn't paid much attention to it. That might have to change.

  
"Likewise. You two have a good night."

  
She closed the door behind her, knowing that Kaliegh would be alight with curiousity, and missed the sidelong glance Bull sent the mage.

  
"Made her nervous with the Tal-Vashoth. Bet one of her parents left, told her stories. And ten silvers says her wifes an elf, the way she looked at you."

  
"Oh joy, already frightening the neighbors." But there was a small smile on his face as he glanced at the apartment and then up to the warrior.

It was still a pleasant feeling, everything time he looked Ar the man he loved. A love he would not have known in Tevinter, - love he could never have been open to in his homeland. But he had found a new home- and a new place to pursue that love. To make a difference, even as he hoped one day to make a difference in Tevinter. Leaning briefly against the qunaris shoulder, Dorian put aside his normal reticence and reached for Bulls hand.

"Shall we go in, amatus?"

  
"Sounds good, kadan."


End file.
